PASIG CITY – Living up to their lofty billing, Cignal-San Beda shattered Racal Ceramica, 93-85, in Game One of the PBA D-League Aspirants Cup championship series at the Ynares Sports Arena Thursday (March 30). Strong performances by guard Pamboy Raymundo and forward Jason Perkins were enough to secure the victory for the Hawkeyes who built a 19-point cushion at the halftime break, 55-36.

Raymundo quickly made his presence felt with three triples. Perkins, who once played for the Racal franchise, added two triples of his own as the duo accounted for 36 markers and matching the opposition’s entire output.

Not even a mini rally led by Rey Nambatac, Sidney Onwubere and Jackson Corpuz could make a dent as back-to-back triples by Harold Arboleda and Perkins upped the Hawkeyes’ lead to 21 points, 69-48, and 3:28 to play in the third. Racal refused to fold and suddenly found themselves trailing by only eight points at the three-minute mark, 78-86, prompting Cignal coach Boyet Fernandez to call a timeout.

The timeout backfired as Raymundo missed a shot that led to a triple from Nambatac to up the pressure, 81-86, nearing the last two minutes. Perkins and Raymundo then gave the Hawkeyes a breather with consecutive baskets, 90-81, but Nambatac continued to wax hot and drained another triple, 84-90.

That proved to be Racal’s last hurrah as Perkins added a free throw and Davon Potts delivered the insurance basket with 30 ticks to go, 93-84. The Hawkeyes can now go for the clincher on Monday (April 2) at the FiOil Flying V Centre in San Juan City starting at 4:00 PM.

Perkins showed the way for Cignal with 28 points and eight rebounds. Raymundo finished with 21 points while Bolick added 19 points, five rebounds and six assists.

Nambatac led Racal with 23 and six rebounds. Corpuz and Onwubere supported him with 15 and 14 markers respectively.